Lauren Beukes
Encyclopedia
Lauren Beukes is a South African novelist
, short story writer, journalist
and TV scriptwriter
. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa with her husband and her daughter.
, a hardboiled
thriller about crime, magic, the music industry, refugees and redemption set in a re-imagined Johannesburg. Zoo City won the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award
,, was short-listed for the 2010 BSFA Award for best novel, , the 2011 World Fantasy award for best novel, the 2010-2011 University of Johannesburg Creative Writing Prize, the M-Net Literary Awards, the Nielsen's Booksellers' Choice Award 2011and long-listed for South Africa's Sunday Times Fiction Prize 2011.
The cover artwork received the 2010 BSFA award for best art..
The book also received the Kitschies Red Tentacle for the 2010 book that "best elevates the tone of geek culture".
Her first novel was Moxyland, a speculative
science fiction
novel set in a future Cape Town. Both books were first published in South Africa by Jacana Publishing and released internationally by Osprey Publishing
's Angry Robot imprint.
Her first book, the non-fiction Maverick: Extraordinary Women From South Africa's Past (Oshun 2005) was long-listed for the 2006 Sunday Times Alan Paton Award.
She has published short stories in several anthologies including "Further Conflicts" (NewCon Press 2011), Home Away (Zebra 2010), Touch: Stories of Contact (Zebra 2009), Open: Erotic Stories from South African Women Writers (Oshun 2008), FAB (Umuzi 2007), African Road: New Writing from Southern Africa (New Africa Books 2005), 180 Degrees: New Fiction By South African Women Writers (Oshun 2006), and Urban 03 (New Africa Books 2005).
, Nature Medicine and Colors as well as The Sunday Times Lifestyle, Marie Claire
, Elle
, Cosmopolitan
and SL Magazine .
She won Best Columnist Western Cape in the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards in 2007 and 2008.
, she was part of the development team that created South Africa's first half-hour animated TV series, URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika
and wrote 12 episodes of the Disney Playhouse show, "Florrie's Dragons" for Wish Films
She was also one of the writers, together with Ben Trovato and Tumiso Tsukudu on the pilot of controversial ZA News, a Spitting Image
-style satire show with puppets based on the work of South African cartoonist, Zapiro
. The pilot was commissioned by the SABC but never broadcast.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, short story writer, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and TV scriptwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa with her husband and her daughter.
Books
She is the author of Zoo CityZoo City
Zoo City is a science fiction novel by South African author Lauren Beukes. The book was first published in 2010 by Jacana Media, and won the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award...
, a hardboiled
Hardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
thriller about crime, magic, the music industry, refugees and redemption set in a re-imagined Johannesburg. Zoo City won the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award
Arthur C. Clarke Award
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a grant from Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987...
,, was short-listed for the 2010 BSFA Award for best novel, , the 2011 World Fantasy award for best novel, the 2010-2011 University of Johannesburg Creative Writing Prize, the M-Net Literary Awards, the Nielsen's Booksellers' Choice Award 2011and long-listed for South Africa's Sunday Times Fiction Prize 2011.
The cover artwork received the 2010 BSFA award for best art..
The book also received the Kitschies Red Tentacle for the 2010 book that "best elevates the tone of geek culture".
Her first novel was Moxyland, a speculative
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel set in a future Cape Town. Both books were first published in South Africa by Jacana Publishing and released internationally by Osprey Publishing
Osprey Publishing
Osprey Publishing is an Oxford-based publishing company specializing in military history. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company produces over a dozen ongoing series, each focusing on a specific aspect of...
's Angry Robot imprint.
Her first book, the non-fiction Maverick: Extraordinary Women From South Africa's Past (Oshun 2005) was long-listed for the 2006 Sunday Times Alan Paton Award.
She has published short stories in several anthologies including "Further Conflicts" (NewCon Press 2011), Home Away (Zebra 2010), Touch: Stories of Contact (Zebra 2009), Open: Erotic Stories from South African Women Writers (Oshun 2008), FAB (Umuzi 2007), African Road: New Writing from Southern Africa (New Africa Books 2005), 180 Degrees: New Fiction By South African Women Writers (Oshun 2006), and Urban 03 (New Africa Books 2005).
Journalism
As a journalist, her articles have been published in a wide range of local and international magazines including The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
, Nature Medicine and Colors as well as The Sunday Times Lifestyle, Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
, Elle
Elle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
, Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
and SL Magazine .
She won Best Columnist Western Cape in the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards in 2007 and 2008.
Television
As head writer for Clockwork ZooClockwork Zoo (Company)
Clockwork Zoo, is the world's largest animation studio in South Africa.After creating the local action-adventure teen show Urbo: The Adventures of Pax Afrika, the company produced the animation for several international television series, including the fifth season of Caillou co-produced with the...
, she was part of the development team that created South Africa's first half-hour animated TV series, URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika
URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika
URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika is a South African science fiction animated television series created by the animation department of Octagon CSI, which later became Clockwork Zoo. It started airing in October 2006, and ran until November 2009...
and wrote 12 episodes of the Disney Playhouse show, "Florrie's Dragons" for Wish Films
She was also one of the writers, together with Ben Trovato and Tumiso Tsukudu on the pilot of controversial ZA News, a Spitting Image
Spitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
-style satire show with puppets based on the work of South African cartoonist, Zapiro
Zapiro
Jonathan Shapiro, born 1958 in Cape Town, is a South African cartoonist, famous as Zapiro, whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions...
. The pilot was commissioned by the SABC but never broadcast.
Short fiction
Beukes has published short fiction in various collections:- Urban '03 (2004)
- African Road: New Writing from South Africa (2005)
- 180 Degrees: New Fiction By South African Women Writers (2006)
- FAB (2007)
- Open: Erotic Stories from South African Women Writers (2008)
- Touch: Stories of Contact (2009)
- Home Away: 24 Hours, 24 Cities, 24 Authors (2010)
- Pandemonium: Stories of the Apocalypse (2011)
External links
- Official site
- Sunday Times profile
- Moxyland
- Maverick
- Touch: Stories of Contact
- Z-News on IMDB
- brainwavez.org Interview of Lauren Beukes regarding Moxyland
- 2011 radio interview at The Bat Segundo ShowThe Bat Segundo ShowThe Bat Segundo Show is a podcast based in New York run by writer and literary critic Edward Champion.The program features comprehensive interviews with prominent figures in arts and culture, with a special focus on literature. Past guests have included David Mitchell, David Lynch, Amy Sedaris,...